Hong Kong " South China Morning Post " article on October 9, original title: The United States must stop obsessing with the false "China threat" theory and focus on responding to global economic dangers
The world financial market is in the worst turmoil since the global financial crisis in 2008. In order to fight US inflation, the belated and radical hike of interest rates in the Federal Reserve has had an impact on the entire financial market. The strong dollar, the Ukrainian war, the energy crisis and the slowdown in China constitute various factors that warned by the World Bank's President Malpass, which puts the world at risk of stagflation. The market is watching how the Fed will turn if this global economic chaos spreads to the United States.
As the world's largest economy with the strongest reserve currency, the United States should focus on how to help the world prevent this financial doomsday. However, the United States continues to indulge in national security and competition for big powers, especially the "China threat" - which seems to be the only problem that unites the Democratic Party with the Republican Party. The Biden administration not only continues the "America First" policy of the Trump administration, but also further identifies China as "the most serious long-term challenge to the international order."
Whether the "China Threat" really exists must be critically examined. Those who truly understand China know that China is by no means a threat. The "China threat" imagined by the United States reflects the United States' hegemonic instinct and its insecurity arising from fear of a possible weakening of global dominance. As Joseph Gregory Mahoney, a scholar of international relations who has long observed China, pointed out, China shows political and cultural "exceptionalism". Unlike the United States, China does not seek global hegemony. The suffering China suffered at the hands of colonial powers since the mid-19th century has engraved its strong anti-hegemony instinct into the hearts of its own citizens.
China's coastal cities are dazzling, but compared with the per capita GDP of about $69,000 in the United States, the per capita GDP of about $12,000 in China pales in comparison. China is very concerned about the imbalance of regional economic development, and strives to improve people's livelihood and security and repair environmental damage. Mahoney uses the word "detachment" to describe China. As a vast country, China has long believed in self-sufficiency. Despite a brief border conflict, China has never indulged in colonialism or occupied foreign territory.
China implements the socialist system with Chinese characteristics , but the Confucian tradition is still strongly rooted in Chinese culture and society. Western culture gives individual rights and sacred privileges to freedom, and as Samuel Huntington pointed out, Chinese civilization attaches importance to hierarchy, order, collectivism, self-discipline and even self-sacrifice. China's political system is unique to its historical, social and cultural roots. China firmly believes in improving the well-being of its people. China strives to develop a socio-political and economic system that is suitable for its unique history and national conditions. Unlike the United States, China does not seek to export political systems.
As the economic footprint of the world's largest trading entity and second largest economy continues to expand, it makes sense that China hopes to seek a place in the international community and expand its military presence to protect overseas assets and investments. China seeks technological progress and improves its self-defense military strength and continues to improve its people's livelihood. What China seeks in international relations is mutual understanding and respect, and regards long-term dialogue and peaceful negotiations as means of conflict resolution, while globalization and multilateralism will bring win-win results to all parties. Decoupling damages the global economy and forcibly dismantling global supply chains will inevitably lead to large-scale inefficiency.
The United States is a great country with rich natural resources and talents. The United States, which has helped many countries in the past, should now accept a new multipolar and multi-civilized world and become a force that drives growth and peace again. (The author is Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government Convener Yi Liu Shuyi , translated by Wang Huicong)▲
